Walking from the bus to the restaurant through the

pine forest that reminded me of the Blue Ridge

Mountains of Virginia.

Pete and Sue, friends from the Karpaz Gate Marina in

North Cyprus who are now at Yacht Marina, Rick and

Mary and Randal and I shared a table.

You can see the fireplace just at the end.  It was wide

enough that Randal was sitting right up against it too.

All the usual suspect took part along with Sue, Pete, Heather and Narelle from Yacht Marina.

Putting in our orders:  We gave our boat names so the waiters could keep it all straight.

Black & white photos remind me of vacations in the 50s we took around New England.

There were lots of choices on the menu but our table opted for the roast lamb…except for Randal who had 2 roasted trout. 

Sue is wearing her lovely new blue scarf which looks perfect!  Narelle looks seasonably festive in her red

scarf.  I think just about every woman there had on a scarf; they are quite “costume de rigueur. “  And they also keep your neck warm during the damp chill weather.  I  for one aim to leave Turkey with a whole collection, an especially good idea as I tend to lose one in each country I visit.

Heather snapping a photo…I was only one of many with a camera

Randal liked the wood ceiling and if we ever really do decide to build one last house look for these there…along with Roman mosaic floors out in the courtyard.  Some house huh?

There were small alcove seating areas.  I might have to paint this …minus the napkin holder.  Maybe a Matisse Odalisque should be reclining here.  Maybe I’ll paint one in.

I’d describe this as the image of foreign travel, but with so many ethnic restaurants  in the US,  you’ve  probably have been in something similar.

Randal’s roast trout.

My roast lamb…fork tender.

After lunch we walked around the grounds visiting the ducks and geese.  Mary had thought to bring the left over bread so we all got to watch the geese and ducks come running,  squawking for bread.

This cat wanted a share of the bread we were feeding to the geese

Geese can come up with some of the goofiest facial expressions!

They would take it directly from your hand if the piece was the size of your fist.  If it was smaller you risked losing a finger.  I tried to take a photo of a goose taking bread from me but that was a bit risky trying to protect my finger and keep the camera steady.  I have a photo of me holding the bread and the goose holding the bread, but none of us both holding the bread.

Sue and Pete were here during the summer and they said it’s jam packed.  There are small cabins and a larger hotel too.

I took myself for a short walk around the place and up the road and then up the hill by the hotel but was afraid to be gone for too long and miss the bus back.  Actually it was a private bus for our group so it wouldn’t have left; but no one would have been happy waiting for me to finally show up.  Actually Rick came along and he and I walked part way up the hill on the dirt path behind the hotel.   But we knew that was a hike for another day so we returned to join everyone at the duck, goose, cat pond.

We’re waiting to board the bus home.  Gwen, our fearless leader, is in the red sweater.